The situation in the Basque Country is not how they want to sell us.

Following the presentation of the Basque Government's economic situation reports in October and November, we are now going to focus our attention on the last ELA headquarters. Under the title Analysis of the situation, it is published in Basque and Spanish, once or twice a semester. The report presents the economic and social data of the Basque Country and Spain, and makes a reading of the current situation. The indicators shown by the Basque union to make this diagnosis are the following:

Although some labour relations figures have improved, we are far from 2008. With 48,000 fewer assets, the labour relations of Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, Álava and Navarra are not those that precede the crisis. There are 100,000 people employed less than in 2008, although there has been an upward trend since 2016. Beyond the 1.2 million occupations that have not been registered since 2012, the number of employees has increased by 37,400 in the last year, while there has been a decrease in unpaid employed persons (7,800 fewer than last year). 82 per cent of employed men and 89 per cent of women are employed.

Unemployment has fallen, but to a lesser extent. Comparing the different sources, the number of unemployed in the peninsular Basque Country stands at between 136,000 and 153,000 people, a situation in which more than half goes more than a year. The decline has been between 11,000 and 15,000 people so far this year, which has been far removed from the number of people employed.

The services sector is the source of this upward trend, which is about to reach 70 per cent of the employed population (32,000 more since the last year). Agricultural and industrial workers continue to fall, so that less than 23% of workers still have factory needs. Construction has increased in the last year, but in 2008 it occupied less than 6% of the employed population.

Recruitment is becoming increasingly precarious in these times of recovery. More than 91% of annual contracts are temporary, while 23% of men and more than 48% of women are part-time. The latter are the result of more work in the service sector, with 20% in agriculture, 12% in construction and 25% in industry. However, 60 per cent of the people working in the Ertzaintza services are women.

This unstable tendency to return to work is much more serious the situation of those who are still unemployed. Only one quarter of the population is entitled to the contributory unemployment benefit, while only 15% are entitled to other social benefits. This means that more than 60% of the unemployed are currently without any entitlement or benefit at a time when they are unable to find work. They spend EUR 200 less per unemployed person than in 2013, and there is widespread tendency to spend less money on social benefits as a result of the cutting policies that have been carried out.

Young people between the ages of 16 and 24 are slowly seeing new job opportunities, five thousand more than last year. Among those who have entered employment relations, there are a thousand who have done so since the end of unemployment. There are still 21,000 unemployed, 27% of young people who have joined the labour market.

The situation of young people in Navarre is more serious, where the overall unemployment rate is also higher than that of Gipuzkoa or Álava. Bizkaia is the country with the most serious social situation, with the most unemployment and fewer job opportunities.

Activity, unemployment and employment rates for the third quarter of 2018 (INE, in percentages)

Comparing the Basque Country with Europe, the Basque Oasis, which has often been represented, does not appear at all. We are in the last places in Europe in a lot of corridors. As far as the stability of work is concerned, only Spain and Montenegro have a temporary rate higher than ours.

As regards the unemployment rate, the European Union average stood at 7.4% in the first quarter of 2018, compared with almost 11% in Euskalerria. Only Italy, Montenegro, Spain and Greece have higher unemployment rates than we do. This trend is repeated in youth unemployment, which in Europe is an average of 15%, while in our environment it reaches almost 28%.

Prices in Spain are analysed in the last section of this report. The CPI (Consumer Price Index) has evolved upwards, particularly since May. This trend is more evident in the Basque Country, although ELA does not offer differentiated data. Increases in prices for housing, transport and electricity are the main factors responsible for this increase.

Finally, it is demonstrated that the Gross Domestic Product continues to grow. In Navarre, recovery is more intense than in other countries. Bizkaia once again shows its slower growth and the forecasts of recent days suggest that this trend will be strengthened.

In this issue 136 of the publication Situation Analysis, ELA also makes a reading of the various indicators that analyze: “The current reality is worse than that of the onset of the crisis; although these indicators have evolved positively, we are still far from the situation before the crisis. The most serious problems are the precariousness and low purchasing power generated by low wages. Wage data have had the lowest weight in 2017 compared to the GDP of the last thirty years. While employers' incomes rose by 7.1%, labour incomes rose by almost half. Therefore, the situation is not how they want to sell us, the distribution of wealth is increasingly uneven and capital accumulation is increasing.”

Economy of Labor on the radio Villa de Bilbao. Link here.

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